The Loud House Meets The Walking Dead
by BRBeverage
Summary: While going on vacation for their last few weeks of summer, the Loud Family find themselves in the midst of a pandemic. Civilization comes crumbling down, and now they'll have depend on each other and a group of strangers to stay alive. As the dead roam the earth, and the living begin to change for the worse, how long can they hope to survive?
1. Prologue - The Wreck

**Hey. So this isn't the first story I've ever written, but this is the first I've worked on in a long time. A few weeks back this idea popped into my head, and I knew I had to roll with it. I'll be continuing this story in my free time as long as I'm able to, and plan to see it through to its completion. I hope you enjoy reading, and any/all feeback or constructive criticism is appreciated. Thank you, and enjoy.**

**Oh, also, I DO NOT own the Loud House, The Walking Dead, or pretty much anything featured in this story. They're owned by Nickelodeon and AMC, respectively. I do not claim ownership or anything like that. I'm just writing a non-profit story here.**

**Edit: So apparently, my method of separating different scenes or locations won't work. So if you read this before that got fixed, I apologize for any confusion that caused in the story.**

* * *

It was a cloudy August afternoon in Georgia, but otherwise pleasant. The highways were bustling as usual, but many side roads were oddly vacant for the most part. This became increasingly apparent to all of the occupants of Vanzilla as it went by unopposed. Although none of the Loud family members gave it much thought. They were all preoccupied with either their own unique hobbies, or were thinking of the trip they now found themselves on.

A few months back, the Loud's Patriarch, Lynn Sr, got a lengthy call from an old college friend. After catching up with his old companion, the father of 11 children shared that he and his wife were planning to take the kids on a vacation for the last few weeks of summer. On that topic, Lynn learned from his old buddy that there was a fantastic camping site along the coast in Florida which their family frequented nearly every year. And, learning that the Loud's own plans weren't set in stone, they were quick to endorse the area for its gorgeous view of the forest, ocean, and night sky.

After weeks of planning, scheduling, and convincing the children that they'd enjoy the change of scenery, the bustling family now found themselves on their second day of driving to the lower half of the country. At first only a couple of the siblings were excited about their vacation; namely Lana, and Lynn Jr to an extent. But over the week they'd spent thinking, packing, and, in a few cases, smuggling unknown cargo into the back of Vanzilla: they'd all grown to be at least interested for the family getaway. Or, in the case of a certain princess, tolerable to it. This served as a relief for their parents,

Lori, the eldest, was currently texting her boyfriend, Bobby, and was more cautious than normal to ensure nobody else glanced at the contents of her phone. Leni, second child, had a personal hand mirror out, which she'd been staring into for the last hour or so. Luna, third eldest, was strumming her signature guitar, careful to not be _too _loud after previous noise complaints. Luan, fourth child, who was sitting right behind her father, was leaning forward to share jokes with him. Lynn Jr, fifth child, was tossing a baseball lightly (again, after noise complaints) against the seat in front of hers, and catching it effortlessly as it bounced back.

Lincoln, the middle child and only boy amongst his ten sisters, was staring out the window, almost lost in thought. Lucy, seventh child, was writing another one of her poems in a notebook she'd brought along for the trip. Lana and Lola, the twins, were having some kinda hushed discussion amongst themselves, although anyone who glimpsed their way could guess that they were on the verge of some form of roughhousing. Lisa, the four year old who could rival most scientist, was tinkering with some kind of device that none of her family could make out just by looking at it. And finally, Lily, the baby of the family, was currently sleeping peacefully next to Lincoln (and served as the main reason noise was being kept down).

As mentioned, Lynn Sr was currently exchanging terrible jokes with Luan while the family's matriarch, Rita, was driving them along the increasingly empty rural roads of Georgia. Now, they'd hoped to reach the campsite by 3pm today. But due to an, um, _incident _the morning prior involving some (most) of the siblings, they would be lucky to be there by nightfall. Regardless, they'd have a few good weeks to enjoy themselves and each other's company before school started up back home. Hopefully. Given the family's track record, who's to say what could happen.

"...Alright, so what do you call 100 rabbits walking backwards?" Lynn Sr asked, a large smirk plastered onto his face.

Stifling a giggle, Luan responded, "I dunno. What do you call that?"

"A _Receding Hair-Line_!" Both father and daughter erupted in a fit of suppressed laughter, doing their best to keep from disturbing the peaceful baby in the vehicle.

"Okay! Okay, okay…" Luan covered her mouth until she could keep a relatively straight face, "So, dad, y'know that allounce you gave me last week?"

"Uh-huh?"

"Well, I bought a wooden whistle, but it _wooden whistle_. So I bought a steel whistle, but it _steel wooden whistle_. So I bought a lead whistle, but it _steel wooden lead me whistle!_" At that, the pair of comedians had trouble keeping themselves in line. Out of all the bad puns they'd thrown back and forth over the day, that one seemed the least horrible. Sadly.

Lincoln, seeing his baby sister begin to stir, got their attention, "Hey, guys? You might wanna quiet it down a little bit…"

Taking moderate control of themselves, the duo responded in unison, with large grins on their faces, "Sorry."

Rita shook her head, a small smirk adorning her left cheek. With Vanzilla growing moderately quiet again, she looked at her children through the rear view mirror, "So, who's excited to visit Florida? I hear that the view's unbelievable."

Lisa glanced up from her devise to confront Rita, "Well, judging by recent weather patterns and the state of the Atlantic, it's safe to assume that there's no threat of severe storms or hurricanes from ruining our designated area of recreation."

"What Lisa says is true." Lucy interjected, "Before we left the spirits claimed we would only see fair weather the rest of this month." She thought back to that seance, the night before they'd left. Aside from ensuring they wouldn't get flooded out, the ghost had also tried conveying other messages, but oddly they were jumbled and made little sense. Lucy wasn't hugely worried about it, as she had no reason to right now, but curiosity had certainly gripped her regarding it.

Leni looked away from her mirror, "Oh! Do you think we'll see any of those big fish? Y'know, those long fish that are, like, smarter than people, or something? The ones with those holes on the back of their heads for breathing?"

Lynn stopped tossing her baseball for a moment to process the words she'd heard, "...Dolphins?"

"Yeah!" Leni exclaimed in excitement, "Doll-fins!"

Lisa glanced up yet again, "Um, actually, Dolphins are a breed of-"

"It's pointless, Lisa." Lori stated, not with a mean spirited tone, but rather matter-of-factly. She only glanced from her phone for a moment, adamant about keeping up with her Boo Boo Bear in their seemingly endless text session.

A small sigh, "Yeah, I know…"

The twin's dispute finally ending, Lana glanced a few squirrels climbing a power pole they drove past. They were quickly going from a vast farmlands to being surrounded on both sides by lengthy forest on both sides, and she was quick to spot other woodland critters scattering about among the trees, "It would be awesome to see some Dolphins. Or a whale! Do you think we'll see a whale?!"

Lynn Sr chuckled at his kid's enthusiasm, "Oh, I don't know for sure. But you never know-" He was cut off as their van quickly swerved towards the left side of the road, shocking all of the present passengers aside from the slumbering Lily. Seconds later an oncoming smart car, driving the wrong way, came barreling by at least ten miles above the speed limit. Once she was clear, Rita more smoothly returned to her previous position on the road.

Luna, feeling her heart slowly calm itself, watched the car quickly disappear out of sight, "Dudes, what was that about?"

"Why was he driving like that?" Lola asked, now slightly shaking, resulting in her being comforted by the rougher twin.

Rita shook her head as her husband wiped his brow, "He could've hit us…"

"Was that guy literally insane or something?!" Lori nearly shouted, finally distracted from her phone as it began blowing up with more messages.

Luan took a deep breath "Heh, I dunno about you guys, but that seemed more like a _dumb_ car to me." It was a terrible joke, but it did succeed in calming most of the car's inhabitants further. She patted herself for thinking of it as quickly as she did. Admitably, though, she was (somewhat) slightly concerned that she thought the joke up while said car was in danger of ramming them.

Lincoln frowned, "That was the first car I've seen all day…"

"How was that the first car you've seen?" Leni asked, mostly unfazed once the incident was over, "I mean, aren't we in a car? Lori, is Vanzilla a ca-"

"Yes."

"Are you su-"

"Yes."

"...huh."

Lynn Sr and Rita both made sure the kids were fine once they'd gotten a grip themselves. The family remained in a relatively calm state after that ordeal. Nobody was talking, and most of the previous activities were put on hold for the time being. Eventually, Rita broke the silence, "Looks like there's a bad bump in the road, kids. Everyone be prepared."

Moments later, despite going slower to pass it smoothly, Vanzilla experienced a few seconds where half of the tires were much lower than the other half. This rocked everyone about a little bit. Thankfully, all of the children were wearing seat-

There was a thud "Augh!"

…

...belts.

Currently, eight of the loud siblings, along with their father, bolted their attention in the direction of the new voice. Two of the siblings stared ahead, their eyes as big as saucers while they began to sweat in fear. And the mother, well, she held an expression which could best be described as a mixture of smug, disappointed, and yet somehow, indifferent.

"Hmm." She chuckled, looking to the back of Vanzilla through her rear view mirror, "I wonder who that could be." The two guilty parties quickly sank back into their seats, while an air of 'oh crap' resonated from the back of the vehicle among their luggage.

"Uhm, Lucy, did I hear one of your ghost friends?" Leni asked, being one of the few now oblivious to what was going on.

"No, you didn't."

"Are you su-"

"Yes."

"...huh."

After what felt like an eternity of forced silence, Rita spoke once again, "You can come out now. We all know you're back there."

…

A defeated sigh, "Okay, Mrs. Loud." Any doubts as to the new person's identity quickly sank as soon as he spoke, "You win."

Rita's face became noticeably more smug as she watched the luggage far in the back rustle about. Oh yeah, she knew. She knew about their stowaway, that her child cleverly hid away at the start of their journey. She knew that said teen girl was now fully submerged into her seat. She knew all along about the two teenagers currently in the-

'Wait, two?!' She did a double take, glancing between the mirror and the road multiple times, before turning to face the back of Vanzilla directly, "What the-" She was now a mixture of confused, and irritated, "What are you doing here?"

"Um…" a new voice, this one belonging to the girlfriend of a certain musician, spoke up, "I thought you knew we were both here…"

"No, I didn't, Samantha." She informed the teen girl, "I only knew Bobby was back there."

"You knew about Bobby?!" Lori yelled, now feeling sick with worry.

"You didn't know about Sam…?" Luna somehow sank further, knowing that she could have potentially avoided this revelation for now.

Roberto Santiago Jr, referred to as Bobby by most, had been on the wrong side of the van when they'd hit that huge bump on the road. He'd gotten tossed backwards, his shoulder making contact with the rear window, which caused him to, unfortunately, cry out in momentary pain. Knowing he'd gotten both himself and Luna's friend caught, but feeling he shouldn't talk in that moment, he sent Lori a text without needing to see the phone.

"_Sorry, babe."_ Lori only glanced at the sudden message.

...

"_its ok"_

Sam gave a weak wave to Luna, who nodded half-heartedly. When she turned back to find a pair of eyes staring her down through the rear-view, she officially became one with the fabric of her seat. Most of the Loud siblings (along with Lynn Sr) were both surprised about the display, and silently approving of Lori and Luna's bravery.

"Kids." Rita began, glaring at the new passengers. Anyone who was about to speak up were silenced by her voice as it beamed with authority, "Do your parents know you're here?" There were a few moments of murmuring from the back, both clearly stating 'Yes' sooner or later in their response. The matriarch nodded, "Alright. In that case: why didn't **we** know you were here?" She demanded, referring to herself and her husband.

"Um, well, y'see Mrs. Loud." Bobby began, "We were going to ask-"

"Don't lie."

"We wanted to ask, but it was decided, at some point, that it was best to…"

"We thought it was best to surprise you!" Sam declared, taking the reins, "That way when you guys go to the campgrounds, there'd be two extra people to help pitch tents and all that!"

"Yeah, totally!" Bobby agreed, with Sam nodding quickly to seal the deal. Rita only glanced between Lori, Sam, Bobby, and Luna, getting a read on them in that moment.

It had been planned so perfectly. On the morning that they were packing up to leave, Lori had convinced Leni, Lola, and Lana to distract mom and dad long enough for her to sneak Bobby into the van with their luggage. Initially he would follow them in his car, with Lori telling him what roads to take along the way, until tragedy struck and his car's engine got ruined by an inexperienced mechanic. After that, they came up with Plan B: he'd hide out in the back, with Lori constantly texting him to keep the poor guy's mind away from his claustrophobia.

As mentioned, it had been planned thoroughly. In fact, it went better than expected! Aside from her three helpers, who played their parts well; Luan, Lynn, and Lincoln had also taken to gaining the adult's attention for an impressive amount of time. In fact, they were so good at the task, that the sounds of crashing and something breaking could be heard coming from the house. I mean, it worked, so…

However, when Lori and Bobby had gotten behind Vanzilla to enact stage two of their marvelous plan, they discovered a certain younger sibling with a similar line of thought. It turns out the second trio of siblings had been hired by Luna, who was currently hiding Sam in a similar fashion to what the eldest had in mind. Both siblings, and their cohorts, were initially worried they'd been discovered. But it was quickly apparent that great minds indead thought alike, and in a moment of mutual respect, a silent pact was forged. And so, Bobby hid among the other half of the luggage pile, with Lori and Luna rearranging a few bags to both give them room and keeping all the changes from looking out of place. With two water bottles and some packed provisions to hold them over, the pair had expertly evaded being discovered for well over a day.

That is until now, anway.

"Well, uh," Lynn Sr began, still looking back at the teens, "It's nice to see you kids. I hope the ride back there hasn't been too rough."

"Good to see you too, Mr L!" Sam beamed, happy to get welcoming response from one of the parents, in light of the circumstances, "My necks kinda sore, but other than that…"

Lincoln glanced between his siblings, "Not to sound rude or anything, but what _exactly_ was your plan here?"

Rita turned from the road once again, "Yes, children, what was the plan?"

Luna rubbed the back of her neck, "Well, the idea was that…" She ran through what she'd planned to say, realizing there was no great way to put it, "After we'd gotten everything set up, and everyone had settled in, Sam would sorta announce herself. By then it'd be a waste to drive all the way back…" Lori nodded as the younger sister spoke, confirming that was along the lines of her plan as well.

Letting their story settle in, Rita glanced at the stowaways once more, "I want you both to be honest here. Do both of your _individual_ parents know that you're on this trip?"

This time, there was a clear "Yes." from both of them in unison. Except, Bobby soon followed his with, "My mamá thinks you're aware about it, though."

…

"You could have just asked us."

"WHAT?!" Four voices declared in disbelief, staring at the mother behind the wheel.

"You could have just asked." She repeated herself, looking into the rear view once more as the road curved, "We would have been happy to include them from the start."

Lori sat up, "Wait, but last week when I asked about bringing other people, you literally said 'no'."

"Well, there must have been some misunderstanding, dear. Because I remember saying..."

"Honey, stop the car."

"...that we were-"

"Rita, stop the car!"

All the Loud children, along with his wife, Bobby, and Sam, were taken back by the sudden outburst from their father. Rita glanced from the mirror to face him, "Lynn, what's…" Before she could turn her head, she saw it. Vanzilla was now brought to a smooth, but swift halt.

It was haunting. Not far down the road, partially concealed amongst the trees due to the winding road, there was a mangled wreck of cars. It was hard to tell from this distance if it was two or three vehicles involved in that mess. Then again, it was hard to make out much of anything, given how they were almost fused into one ghastly monster of what used to be working machines. Scraps of metal could be seen littered all over the area. Along with shards of glass, plastic, and what could only be shredded patches of tires, in closer proximity to the main pile.

It was the worst wreck any of them had ever seen, even for the adults were both in shock at the sight, mouths agape. Lori, Leni, Luna, Luan, Lynn, Lincoln, Lucy, Bobby, and Sam spotted the mess as well, and had no way to immediately respond in voice. When Lola, Lana, and Lisa attempted to see what had their family's attention, they were shielded from it by several of their older siblings. Or, at least, they tried their best to protect them.

"Dude…" Luna was the first to speak, and that was all she could muster.

"Oh my God." Rita gasped as Lynn Sr shook his head, saddened that his children could see the wreck, but at least thankful that they weren't any closer. If it looked so bad this far away, one could only imagine what it was like up close.

"What is that?" Leni asked, squinting at the mess ahead, "Why do those cars look so weird?"

Lynn had nearly dropped her baseball once she'd seen it, and had since barely mustered the strength to move, "It's a wreck, Leni. Those cars…" She couldn't quite bring herself to finish, nor break her line of sight from the wreckage quite yet.

Nearby, Lily had begun to awaken. Not wanting the baby to have this sight stuck her mind, of all things, Lincoln was quick to soothe the child back to sleep. He soon had the assistance of Luan and Leni, the former moving back in the van towards them to help. By now the twins and Lisa had glimpsed what they shouldn't have, and were quickly regretting it. Lori, Sam, and Bobby had yet to turn away from the sight. Lucy was likely the least freaked out among the van's inhabitants, but that didn't mean she was even slightly unfazed.

Rita, coming back to her senses, realized that her children shouldn't be seeing this. She was all set to move the van back a few good yards when Bobby spoke up, "Hey, I think I see something moving!"

"What?" Rita gasped, freezing before the vehicle could move.

"There!" He pointed, directing everyone who'd looked away back towards the wreck, "I saw something moving, further up the road! Behind those cars."

"Do you think someone's there?" Lori asked, in disbelief. She couldn't imagine anyone who was in that accident walking around afterward. Certainly they'd be too hurt, or worse.

Lynn dropped her ball, "I saw it, too! There's definitely somebody over there!"

Her mother saw it now, too. It was unmistakably the silhouette of a person moving around, further up the road. Either someone else had come across this mess, or…

Without saying a word, Rita threw Vanzilla in reverse. Rather than leaving the scene, as she'd planned a minute prior, their family vehicle steered off and was carefully sent back into the grass on their right. After a few moments of confusion from the Loud siblings, the van was parked just off the side of the side of the road. Satisfied that they were safe from oncoming vehicles, Rita threw off her seatbelt, "Children, stay here. Your father and I are going to see if we can help."

"Wait, we are?" Lynn Sr asked, turning to his beloved wife. She was already out the door, "We are." He followed suit, removing his seatbelt and stepping outside.

"Are you certain that this is the best course of action, Father?" Lisa inquired, the smallest hint of worry in her voice.

Luan turned to their dad, as Lily drifted back into a deep sleep, "Yeah, shouldn't we call an ambulance or something?"

Flustered from the situation, and seeing his wife was already walking a bit ahead, he nodded, "Good call. Lori, I want you to call 911 while we're gone. Get them out here as quick as you can. Chances are good someone needs help over there right now, though. So your mother and I are gonna go up the road a bit to see what we can do." The teen had the number dialed by the time he finished his sentence.

Lynn Jr stood up, "Then the rest of us should come too, right? We could help."

Luan, Luna, Leni, Lola, Lana, Lisa, and Lucy all went to say something themselves when they were cut off, "Absolutely not, girls. Your mother would kill me if any of you went out there." He turned to Lincoln, who looked back in anticipation, "Same goes for you, son. Just stay put."

Sam grabbed his attention before he could shut the door, "What about us, Mr. L? Can we help?"

Bobby nodded, "Yeah, do you need us to do anything?"

Lynn Sr thought on it for a moment. Having more muscle over there could prove invaluable if anybody was stuck or otherwise. He nodded, "Okay. Bobby, come with us. Sam, you go ahead and stay here. Come get us if something happens. Understand?"

"Yeah, you got it." Sam followed behind Bobby as they careful hopped over the back seats, navigating their way to separate spots in the RV. While she squeezed herself in a seat next to Luna, Lynn Sr helped the other teen slide open the left side door. Once he was out, Bobby turned to shoot a comforting gaze at Lori. She returned a worried expression, the phone up to her head.

The older man turned towards his children once again, "I am being serious right now, okay." He stated, making sure everyone aside from the slumbering baby had his attention, "If I catch any of you leaving Vanzilla without our express permission, you'll be in serious trouble when we get back. Understood?" There was a chorus of murmurs and nods in understanding. Glancing between his children once more, Lynn Sr slid the door closed. The kids were left there, watching him and Bobby catch up with their mom.

Neither of them said a word as they caught up with the matriarch. Rita remained silent as well despite questioning how wise bringing Bobby up to the wreck would be. Given the likelihood of them seeing something no young person should, it might have been better had he stayed behind. But she didn't speak up. So the three of them continued along the side of the road, getting close to the wreck sooner than they'd wished.

It had already been a shocking sight from a distance, but up close the wreck was even worse. There was definitely three cars involved in this collision. Two had struck each other, while another could be seen on the other side of the scrap pile. The smaller of the two vehicles, a grey station wagon, was a head-on collision. It was so caved in that one could mistakenly assume it had been cut in half. The second, decently bigger SUV had swerved into the smaller machine, creating a gapping dent in its side. The third, and likely the least damaged of the totaled trio, looked to be some kind of sports car. That one had slammed into the larger vehicle from the other side, effectively sandwiching it between the smaller transports.

Lynn Sr threw a hand to his mouth, while Rita and Bobby became similarly repulsed. There was no mistaking what they saw. One of the doors along the wagon's left side was wide open. It barely hang on, and could very well collapse to the asphalt at any moment. Outside of that door, smothered over the ground, was a small pool of crimson. An unsettling amount of it, with even more crawling its way down the pavement like a swarm of ants in perfect formation. More splatters of red could be seen around the vehicles, along with a few trails leading away from the scene. It was clear this had gone down more than a few minutes before their arrival.

Among all that they could see, they didn't find anyone moving around anymore. Unless they were hidden beyond the wreck, they were no longer within sight.

"Hey!" Bobby called out, turning their attention away from the horrid view, "There's another one down there!" He was right. This part of the road had a small decline on either side. To their right, there was a brown pickup truck that had tumbled onto its side and straight into a tree. It could be inferred by the visible tire tracks leading into clumps of grass and dirt that the driver, more than likely, crashed to avoid the dogpile which now blocked this road.

"Ah, jeez, this is really bad." Lynn Sr declared, slowing trying to get a grip of himself. In all his years, he'd never been faced with a situation quite like this one. He watched as his wife slowly slinked her way forward, forcing herself with each step.

Bobby soon began his own subdued march towards the truck, pausing to turn towards his girlfriend's father, "I'm gonna check out that truck. Y'know, in case someone's down there."

The adult nodded, "Alright, just stay safe. If you see any leaking gas, back away and let us know." The teen nodded before turning away, continuing down the hill. Mustering up all the fortitude he could, Lynn Sr made his way forward. Hopefully someone had survived this disaster.

* * *

Lincoln had soon been overtaken by anxiety after their parents and Bobby left. Not knowing what was happening over there, with his parents and his older friend, was killing him. At the same time he almost understood why none of them were allowed to follow. He'd felt ill when he first spotted the cars beyond the trees, and whatever he might see close up would surely be worse. So he listened to his father and stayed put. Thankfully, Lily was nearby to offer some passive comfort. The baby shared a close bond with her eleven year old brother, even to the point where she'd sometimes only calm down from a fit when he was present. And likewise, she could ease the boy's mind when he was worked up from whatever the day's events had brought. He smiled at the toddler, even if she wasn't awake to smile back.

He scanned around to silently check up on the rest of his sisters, none of which were faring much better. Lori was still on the phone, but had not said anything to anyone on the other end, which just made things worse for the younger siblings. Leni resumed looking at herself in the mirror, although wasn't as invested as she normally would be. Luna had been staring out towards the wreck in worry, prompting Sam to lay a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder. Luan tried telling a few jokes to ease the tension, which might have worked if she was as invested in them herself right now. Lynn had taken to tapping her right foot against the van floor; creating a faint clopping sound as her shoe repeatedly made contact with metal. This didn't help anyone in the slightest.

Lucy seemed like she was trying to write in her notebook, yet the pencil she held hadn't moved yet. Watching the young goth for a moment, Lincoln could almost swear she wasn't even looking at her paper. It was as if she was staring into nothingness. The twins weren't faring much better, as both Lana and Lola hadn't spoken a word for the last few minutes. Lisa was currently preoccupied with her device, keeping all thoughts away from whatever was going on elsewhere. Prodigy or not, she was only four years old. Probably best to not hypothesize what happens when two or more vehicles going at high speeds suddenly collide.

A few of them, Lincoln included, jumped as Lori suddenly growled in frustration, "Ugh! Nobody's picking up! I keep getting sent to this stupid automated message!"

Lincoln had been worried, but now he was getting a little scared, "W-what? Have you tried calling them again?"

"I've literally tried four times now, Linc." She stated, taking the phone away from her ear, "It's the same thing every time."

Lucy slightly shook, although only her brother noticed it. Lana scooted forward in her seat, "Why wouldn't anyone answer? Do you think something's wrong?"

Leni turned to her older sister, as some of their younger siblings began to panic, "What if it's just your phone? Maybe it's just having trouble calling. Or it-" Lisa wanted to interject, and say that wasn't likely, but Lori beat her to the punch. Pressing a few buttons in quick succession, Lori brought the phone to her ear once more. Seconds later, buzzing could be heard nearby. Leni looked down at her phone in confusion briefly before picking it up to answer, "Hello?"

"My phone works." The eldest stated sharply, speaking through the phone.

"Oh, okay. Is my phone working?" Nobody had the will to answer that question right now, while Lisa and Lori facepalmed simultaneously.

As that nonsense was going on, Sam stood up to make her way towards the right side door. Luna watched her girlfriend, almost standing up herself, "Hey, where are you going?"

Sam slid the door open, setting one shoe down to the grass below before glancing over her shoulder, "Your parents oughta know that 911 isn't picking up. That's worth going over there."

Luan spoke up, "What if it's not a big deal? They could just-"

"Even if it's nothing," She interrupted, now standing entirely outside she turned to face the sisters, "I still need to tell them that we aren't getting an ambulance out here anytime soon. That they need to know."

"Should one of us go with you?" Lynn asked, desperate to get out of the van right now.

"Dad told us to stay here." Lola pointed out, with Lana nodding in agreement, "He said that we'd get in trouble."

Lynn spoke before Lola had finished, "I don't care, I've got a real bad feeling in my gut right now. We should be getting out of here. Right now."

"And leave behind people who might be hurt?" Lincoln demanded, "What if nobody else comes by to help?"

"Look, just..." Sam paused, "Just stay here, alright. You'll be fine." She closed the door before going into a light sprint, staying on the edge of the road.

Something didn't feel right. Luna couldn't put her finger on it, but something about what was going on was pushing her closer to the edge. Perhaps Lynn was right. Debating only for a moment, Luna forcefully threw her seatbelt off. She darted towards the door, to the protest of everyone else in the van.

She took one step out of the vehicle, before yelling out, "Dude, wait! I'm going with!"

"Luna. Luna!" Lori demanded, struggling with her seatbelt as the musician left them, "Come back here now!" Lynn began following in Luna's footsteps much to the dismay of her present siblings. She darted past Lori to get outside, but was quickly caught by the older sibling before she could get far. She struggled as the eldest called out, before their sister could gain any real distance, "Dammit. Luna! Get over-"

She was cut off. Lynn froze. Luna froze. Sam froze up ahead. All the children currently in the van were taken off guard, a few nearly scared senseless. There was screaming up ahead. A blood-curdling shriek that echoed throughout the trees, causing birds all around to take to the skies. And they knew right away who it was, they couldn't mistake it. In that moment, eleven hearts sank, and the world around them grinded down to a screeching halt.

* * *

The two adults had been worried that Bobby might be scarred by what he would see by following them over here. As it turns out, those extra years of life experience they had on him didn't make them much better off. The sight of the demolished cars and running crimson alone would likely cause them a good few restless nights, and more than a couple of trips to a therapist, but once they made their way around to the other side…

It got worse.

The stomach churning amount of blood was enough that they could assume people had not survived. It wasn't difficult to figure that out, given everything. But it was one thing to know a stranger was dead, and another to see their body for yourself. Outside of the sports car, draped over the busted hood, was whom they could only assume was its driver. His left arm was stretched forward, making contact with the SUV before it, while his right arm was caught in the exposed engine. They couldn't see his head from this angle, and something told them they should be grateful. His entire body was bent in unnatural ways, covered in all manner of gashes and cuts. Glass stuck out of him in too many spots to possibly count. And the smell…

Lynn Sr ran back a few feet, unable to hold it any longer. Rita looked away from the body, shaking, while her husband emptied his stomach over the pavement. She was close to joining him. Mustering her courage, she continued forward. Wisely avoiding eye contact with the makeshift hood ornament as she grew closer. A quick glance elsewhere was made, in hopes of finding the person she and Bobby both spotted before. If they were involved in this mess, they wouldn't make it far on their own.

Those thoughts flew aside when she heard a thud. The SUV's passenger door, which had been ajar since they arrived, was flung open without warning. A body fell from the seat, falling face first to the hard ground. This one was in similar shape, minus the glass sticking out of its everywhere. Rita almost squealed at the sight, tears forming rapidly. She wanted to turn away, to return to her kids and just leave this grisly scene. Every part of her urged for that outcome. There's no possible way somebody was alive here. No way.

That's what she kept telling herself, up until the new corpse proved it wasn't so lifeless. It wasn't much, but the guy was feebly attempting to push himself off the ground. Given how magled he looked, despite the fact that bones were poking holes in his arms, he was trying to get himself off the ground.

"Oh my…" She gasped as the man's arm very easily gave out, and he once again smacked against the unforgiving road. Rita, despite a voice telling her to leave him, rushed to the man's side. He took notice of her after a brief moment, halting his second attempt to get up. She crouched down, taking in the man's gruesomely damaged body like one harsh wave after another.

"Rita?" Lynn Sr weakly called out, turning towards his wife after wiping his mouth with the end of his sleeve, "What's-"

She turned away from the wounded man, despite the voice now screaming, while the man reached out towards her, "Lynn, I need help! This guy's still alive!"

He could barely see who she was talking about, his wife blocking the man's upper half from view. Bobby, hearing them from down the hill, quickly trudged his way back up to assist.

"Lynn, now!" She demanded, still facing her husband, "We need to-" She was cut off. With all of his strength, the man she wanted to help grasped the woman's left shoulder, and pulled her down with him. Before she could move, or speak, or even realize what had happened, he did something that she had no hope to understand. He raised his head menacingly above hers, opened his mouth wide, and brought it down. Before Lynn Sr could even find his voice, or Bobby could reach the top of the hill, or Rita had the chance to regret her decisions that day, the man she'd wanted to save had bitten off a chunk of her face. Reaching a hand towards the missing skin and muscle, unable to move any more of her body from the shock, she let out a deathly wail. One that could be heard for a mile around.

"RITA!" Lynn Sr cried out, rushing towards his wife in a desperate attempt to protect her. She continued to scream, the volume unchaning, until her tormentor brought his head down again. This time, he went for her neck, immediately silencing his would-be savior's deafening howls. Now all she could do was gurgle as her attempts to breath were cut off by her own rushing blood. Her mind began to slow down as the world around her quickly blurred into a bright haze. All she felt was shockwaves of pain coursing over her. Soon, everything went black.

Yelling for the man to let her go, Lynn Sr grabbed a hold of the love of his life to pry her away from the madman. It proved to be a challenge, as the broken crash victim somehow had the strength to keep Rita locked in place. Lynn tried to pull her away, but that didn't even faze the crazed attacker as he went for another bite. Desperate, the patriarch tried knocking the other man away. While this did work, mostly, it left him vulnerable as well. Grabbing onto Lynn Sr, the man pulled him towards the ground. Before he could get up and return to his wife, who was bleeding profusely, he yelled out in sudden pain as teeth sunk into his forearm. He yanked away, part of his sweater sleeve staying behind to hang from bloodied teeth.

Ignoring the pain in his arm, Lynn Sr grabbed a hold of Rita and pulled her away. The attacker, not close to being done with this sick affair, crawled his way after them. Sickening cracks resonated from countless bones as the broken psychopath forced himself forward, as if he didn't feel a thing. His chase was short lived, however, as a third person he was unaware existed ran up out of nowhere. Bobby, with a slab of metal plucked from the ground, struck the assailant squarely in the forehead. Without another sound, the killer fell back to the earth. Never to move again.

Shaking not only at what he'd done, but what had gone down, Bobby dropped the makeshift weapon, leaving the blood stained tool where it now lay. He kept his eyes trained on the still corpse, expecting it to spring back to life any moment like some kind of faulty robot. Seeing how ruined the body was, he could hardly believe this person had moved at all. Snapping back to reality, he turned to help the parents of his girlfriend, only to stop dead in his tracks. Mrs Loud wasn't moving, still bleeding, but her husband wasn't helping her. Instead, he was mourning her. She was already gone. Rita Loud was dead.

* * *

Lori couldn't breath. She tried, but it just got caught in her throat. For a few seconds she heard the unmistakable screams of her mother. Then silence. Lynn, who hadn't broken free of her sister's grasp, no longer tried. She, too, hadn't moved an inch. Neither did Luna, who had stopped by the treeline, or Sam, who was several yards ahead. All of the van's inhabitants weren't able to do much either. The sound had torn through them like a thousand knives, and not a single one had the will to respond.

Lucy began to shake again, more visibly this time, promoting Lincoln to bring himself out of shock long enough to approach her, "L-l-lucy?" She didn't respond. Instead, she allowed her notebook to fall to the floor, and embraced her older brother as if her life depended on it.

Outside, Luna turned back towards her siblings, hoping one of them would say something. Soon, one of them did, as Lori found her voice, "Luna. Get back in the van."

"I… But we…"

"Luna, please." Luan, who poked outside the still open doorway, pleaded with her sister. From the van, she could hear similar pleas from Lana, Lola, and Lincoln. They were terrified, and didn't want her going out there.

With a simple, light nod. Luna looked back towards Sam. The girl resumed going towards the wreck, but was being much more slow and cautious about it, "Dude," She hollered, hopefully getting her attention, "Maybe we-"

She was cut off. Two arms popped out from the trees, just out of view for everyone behind at Vanzilla. Caught off guard, Luna was yanked off to the side with a yelp. Lynn, Lori, Luan, and everyone else who saw screamed out her name in distress. Sam turned around to glimpse the event, quickly running back. Lynn, with newfound will, broke free of her sister's weakened grasp. Followed by a few of her siblings, she charged forward.

Losing her balance, Luna ended up rolling to the ground, a few feet away from the grasp of whoever had pulled her away. She groaned in anger, "Hey! What the hell-?" When the teen turned to face her attacker, she nearly cried in shock. He was covered in blood, streaks of it running all over his body. His torso was bent in a way that shouldn't be physically possible. And his face…

It was gone. All of the skin below its nose looked to have been removed, or ripped away. Leaving only blood soaked muscles, and boney teeth.

Desperately trying to back away, the disfigured attacker quickly caught up to its prey. Without warning, it tripped forward, landing right on top of her. She screamed, catching the freak before it could smother her. A hand on both of it's shoulders, she wanted nothing more than to toss this guy away so she could get up and run. But in truth she was barely able to keep it from getting even closer. Her legs thrashed about violently as her lower half was pinned by the emotionless assailant. With her arms busy pushing it away, she couldn't stop the wacko from tearing away at her shirt, monotonously trying to get at the skin underneath.

As Luna laid there, struggling and screaming, help swiftly arrived. Lynn, running at full sprint past the trees, tacked the larger figure from the side. Despite the size difference, she successfully knocked the brute far enough away. An immediate attempt was made by the freak to grab his new target. Years of playing varied sports paid off in that moment alone, as she was able to evade the sloppy sipe with ease.

Sam and Lori reached the spot soon after. The latter nearly lost her balance at the sight of the attacker, who was picking himself up in that moment. Luna, despite how unbalanced she felt, wobbly pulled herself off the ground. She was assisted halfway up by Lori, Sam, and Luan, who had followed her siblings out here in terror. Lynn, meanwhile, grabbed a long, sturdy tree branch from the forest floor in both hands. With all the might an athletic thirteen year old could muster, she swung the substitute bat at the rising figure. With a loud, resonating crack; both her weapon and the thing's arm snapped in the middle.

She'd expected the guy to yell in pain, or at least get dazed by this attack. Instead, it barely lost its balance for a brief stipend of time. It was then that she took in the thing's disturbing appearance. Dropping the broken branch, she backed away, almost knocking over herself and Luan as she was helping their sister. Letting out an inhuman groan, the creep lunged forward, prompting the girls to back away in fear.

Acting quickly, Luan picked up a rock from nearby and threw it at the wacko. While it didn't stop him, a bigger rock was soon airborne as well, this time thrown by Lynn. This one had the force to send the thing falling backwards into a tree. While it was down, all five girls were quick to turn back and make a dash for Vanzilla. Behind them, Luna's assailant was quickly rising to its feet, and began its pursuit.

Seconds after Luan had given chase after Lynn and Lori, more of the siblings began leaving their seats to go see what was happening/help however they could. Lana was the first out, followed Lincoln, then Lisa, and finally Lucy. Lola was too freaked out to move, despite her fear for Luna and their parents up the road, while Leni had been told by Lincoln to stay behind and watch Lily. The four kids could see the comotion not too far beyond the trees. However, they were taken by surprise when bushes to their right began to rustle. From the woods came a man with a slab of metal sticking out of his chest, and shards of glass jabbing out of his side. Arms outstretched, he advanced on the closest of the kids: Lincoln.

Reacting quickly, Linc jumped back as the man went forward to grab him. Missing the boy, he clumsy fell to the ground, pushing the metal further through to his back. Lana shrieked at the guy's self impalement, while Lucy and Lisa were too shocked to move. Without missing a beat, the critically injured ambusher began to pull himself off the ground, scaring the children even further. The older teens only became more panicked upon seeing another one of these psychos, right next to the young ones.

Lynn went with her tried and true tactic, and tackled him to the ground. This proved to be both effective yet costly, as one of the jagged shards sticking out of him punctured her right shoulder. Leaving a nasty gash in its wake, the glass thankfully did not exchange host. Still, while her target tumbled away, Lynn was left rasping in pain on the ground.

"LYNN!" Most, if not all of he siblings called out. Lincoln, Lucy, and Luan helped the injured athlete from the grass.

Lori stopped amongst her siblings and gave an order, her voice daring any of them to deny her this time, "Everyone, in the van! NOW!" They listened. Lana and Lisa were the first two inside. Right behind them was Lincoln, Luan and Lucy, as they guided Lynn to safety. Sam helped Luna get in, the latter still shaken from her close encounter. Lori hopped in once she knew everyone else was inside, and quickly slammed the door closed.

She tried, anyway. But a pair of hands gripping the edge of that sliding door had other plans. Blocking their only barrier from closing, those hands began to pull the door back open, revealing the impaled man's emotionless face as he began to force his way inside. Several of the girls screamed, Lisa nearly losing her glasses from backing against the wall too hard. Lori tried to force the door closed again, but to no avail.

Luna, pushing aside her fear, joined in trying to force the door closed, "Don't let him in!" She declared, knowing they'd be in grave danger should he make it inside Vanzilla, "HELP US CLOSE THIS THING!"

Sam and Lincoln immediately went to help, followed by Luan, Lucy, Lana, and Lisa. Leni, knowing enough to realize what is going on, joined them as well. Lola went afterwards, her valid strength helping immensely. Lynn tried to join as well, but her injury quickly forced her to retreat back into a vacant seat. Still, the cluster of arms and bodies pushing against the door was enough to counter and overtake the invader's forceful attempts. But while they could keep him from getting in, they couldn't keep his arms from jamming up the entryway.

Lisa was flabbergasted as they slammed the door into him repeatedly, to no avail, "His appendages shouldn't be able to withstand this much trauma! Why has he not pulled them away?!"

"He must be on some serious pain meds or something!" Sam offered, strained, "How else would he walk around with that thing going through his chest…!" By now Lily had woken up, and was crying out in confusion about what was happening nearby.

"Come on, we can do this!" Luan's instincts were to make some kind of a joke, but the thought hadn't crossed her mind since they'd heard mom's scream. It felt so weird, but she had no time to think on it right then. This was real, and they were in serious peril.

Without warning, another set of arms forced their way into the opening. The deformed face of Luna's attacker could be seen through the gap, scaring the senses from everyone who hadn't seen it previously. They were now facing a losing battle as they were quickly growing exhausted, while the two things outside still had barrels to draw from. They weren't going to keep this up much longer. Those things were about to make their way inside. And they couldn't stop them any longer.

* * *

Lynn Sr stayed their, kneeling before his dead wife, for what felt like an eternity. Everything around him became lightyears away from his reality. The lifeblood pooling before him was an ocean that he'd soon drown in. In an instant, his world had been set ablaze. The fires of grief and self loathing destroyed nearly everything in their path. He'd failed her. His wife counted on him, and now she was gone. His Rita was gone. Forever.

Bobby tried to get the spiralling man's attention. He tried to tell him he was sorry that this had happened. He tried to apologize for not being nearby to do something. That and everything else fell on deaf ears. He didn't exist to that man right now. Bobby might as well be on the other side of the planet. Neither of them moved for some time, as time went past.

Growls came from nearby. Lynn Sr paid them no mind, but Bobby turned to see what they were. Three figures were slowly encroaching on them, two from the woods while the third was on the road. One of them looked to be a child, while the other two were fully grown. They were all disfigured, one walking on what appeared to be a broken foot. Two plus two dictated that they must have been in this crash. Given what the last guy had done, he wasn't taking any chances.

"Mr Loud, we gotta go." He stated, rising from the crouched position he was in. He got no response, "Mr Loud, we can't stay here! I'm sorry for your loss, but we have to leave. Now!" Nothing, "More of those freaks are coming, we can't be here any longer!" Still not a word, or even any sign of movement.

Just then he heard screams, back from the way they'd come. Several of them in unison. He ran a few feet to peer beyond the cars. His entire body quivered as he saw it. One of those things was trying to force its way into the van, and wasn't giving up. Another one was advancing on Vanzilla from the woods, moving to join its buddy in tormenting the people inside. Bobby turned back to find Lynn Sr looking towards the source of the noise. The sound of his children had pulled him back to their world.

Scraping his previous weapon off the road, fully intending to use it once more, Bobby tried one more time, "Mr Loud, we gotta get back to your van! Your kids are in danger!"

"Kids…" He choked out, looking past the teen, "...The kids…"

"That's right! We need to help them, right now!"

The gravity of what Bobby had said finally settled in. Lynn Sr, pulling himself together as best he could, turned back towards his wife one last time. Under his breath, underheard by anyone else, he choked out, "I'm sorry…". With that, he rose from his knees, following Bobby as the younger man was already running at full speed back to Vanzilla.

Lori was beginning to cry, but did her best to hide the tears. By now most of them had foolishly wasted their energy trying to force the first one to back away. Now slowly, but surely, the two of them were making their way into the family vehicle. The bent, lipless one was the first to force its head inside; growling and snapping its teeth as it did so. Luna was shaken by the sight of it once more, the face that would likely haunt her for years to come. Lynn, seeing that they were almost done for, fought through the pain and rejoined her family in keeping the freaks outside. It was all for nothing. That thought was all that ran across their minds, as the door jerked once more, and the thing stepped into the van.

They'd been so distracted, both the assailants and the van's inhabitants, that nobody saw the two men sprinting towards them from down the road. So when sickening crack of metal swinging against a skull was heard outside, none of them knew what had happened. No Lips, still focused on the nearest human (Luna), was the next to be surprised as he was pulled out of the doorway he'd fought so hard to get inside. Through the windows, they could now see Bobby and Lynn Sr outside their sanctuary. The impaled guy was lying on the grass, unmoving, while the two men forced No Lips to the ground. Bobby struck him several times with the metal object, bending it more and more with each swing. Lynn Sr, meanwhile, raced around to the other side of Vanzilla, efficiently sliding his way into the driver's seat. With the keys still in the ignition, the engine was quickly brought to life.

With one final strike, Bobby abandoned the now destroyed car scrap along the edge of the road. Sam and Lori opened the door for him, the latter embracing her boyfriend once they were safely inside. She wanted to say so many things in that moment. Others wanted to question where their mom was. None spoke before Vanzilla was abruptly sent in reverse, back onto the road. Their father, in a tone none of them had heard before, ordered everyone to sit down and put their seatbelts on. Without another word from him, Vanzilla made a full U-turn, and made its way down the road, back the way they'd come from. The No Lipped assailant, now rising once more off the ground, watched as the van started barreling down the road. It followed in the direction they went before losing interest later that day.


	2. Prologue - Some Kind Of Epidemic

**I don't have any real excuse as to why this chapter took so long. All I can say is I've been preoccupied, and my inspiration has always been notoriously up and down. I don't have any intentions of abandoning this story, and hopefully the next chapter won't take quite as long.**

* * *

Lynn Sr focused intently on the road ahead, barely acknowledging most of what was happening around him. It had only been ten, maybe fifteen minutes since he became a widower. Despite pulling it together in time to escape those people, and save his family, he was not remotely close to being alright. The only thing keeping him from going into a catatonic state was the presence of his children close by. Still, he was barely with them outside of the physical sense. Many questions regarding their mom had been asked shortly after their departure, but none had been afforded answers.

Nobody else inside Vanzilla was faring that well, either. Lori and Bobby found themselves unable to release the other for what felt like forever, holding the other hostage in their comforting envelopment. Bobby had darkened blood in the process of staining small patches into his flannel shirt, the t-shirt he had underneath, and more sparsely over his jeans. A solemn mark stating that he'd killed two men that day. Lori had a few scratches above her ankles from running through the woods in slip-on shoes. Otherwise, the two were physically okay. When they finally broke away, each pulled out their cell phones and began punching in numbers. Bobby wanted to contact his family, while Lori tried getting through to 911 again.

Leni was currently sitting in the back alongside Lincoln. With her help, the boy was in the process of calming down Lily until she stopped crying. The toddler had been terrified by the commotion when those two sickos were assaulting the van. Now their baby sister was finally calming down, her smile almost soothing the two as their hearts were still racing. It was possible one of the three had peed themselves in terror, and it wasn't the one in diapers.

Luna hadn't said a word, nor had she moved an inch since their rescue. She sat there, leaning forward slightly, staring ahead at nothing. Her breathing had gone down considerably from the hyperventilation she'd experienced prior. Otherwise, she hadn't improved much. Sam sat beside her, arm draped over her shoulders, trying in vain to get some form of a response. No matter what her girlfriend said or did, Luna proved to be entirely unresponsive. Everyone was beginning to get worried.

Luan was half-heartedly attempting to tell Lana and Lola a wide array of jokes to lighten the mood. They were still in shock, and Lola had teardrops crawling down past her cheeks. Lana was on the verge of crying as well. The sight of those deformed men wasn't easy for six year old kids to handle. Luan was fourteen and she was barely holding in her trauma. She eventually stopped telling jokes, and instead brought the twins into a hug. Now all three were brought to tears.

Lynn squirmed in pain as Lisa and Lucy tended to her wound. The latter had been conscripted by the young genius: first sent to fetch bandages, disinfectant, string, and a needle from specific luggage in the back. Now she attempted to hold the patient still as well as any eight year old could. In truth, she had little hope of keeping the athlete still. It was mostly Lynn's own fortitude, built up from years of roughhousing, which kept her from flailing about every five seconds. Lisa was silently grateful to have her thoughts preoccupied, forced to focus on her work as she stitched her sister's cut to the best of her ability.

After more time of everyone's copping activities, it was eventually Lori who broke the silence. She sighed deeply as her phone was tossed to the seat below, "Yeah, still can't get through to the police."

"What do you think is going on?" Lincoln asked, softly.

"If a hypothesis is required," Lisa interjected, "I believe that our previous confrontation is correlated with the absence of emergency services."

Leni blinked, "Ehm… what?"

"She's saying those **things**-" Lynn flinched as the needle glided in and out of her skin, "...might be the reason 911 isn't picking up."

"But how?" Luan asked, pulling away from her embrace, "Those people were out in the middle of nowhere. It looked like nobody else had…" She trailed off, losing the steam to continue that conversation. Sniffling, she wiped her tears away.

Lisa finished her suture work, and motioned for Lucy to help her cover the wound, "It may just be speculation, but I'm apprehensive to the proposal of our encounter being an isolated incident."

"What do you-" Lana gasped, "Do you think there's more of those people out there?!"

"Maybe it's best if we don't talk about this right now." Lori suggested. Bobby cursed under his breath, prompting her to ask, "Bobby?"

He rubbed the palm of his hand against his temple, clearly worried, "My parents aren't picking up. Neither is Ronnie Anne. I just…" He covered his eyes with one hand, unable to finish.

Lincoln leaned forward, being careful not to disturb Lily, "Do you think they're alright?"

Bobby glanced down over his shoulder, putting on a face of fake confidence, "I wouldn't worry, Little Loud. I'm sure they're fine. I'm just a little bit shaken right now, y'know?" The boy didn't seem reassured, "Hey, you and I both know Ronnie's a tough kid. And she's smart, like you, so she knows to keep away from trouble." This at least appeared to help, although it was possible Linc was giving a false smile back.

Lucy's head tilted to the side, facing away while her younger sister finished her impromptu medical work, "You don't think that… something bad is happening back home, do you?"

She didn't get a response. As the goth had spoken, Luna began hunching forward. Sam quickly leaned to keep close, concerned about the sudden movement, "Luna?"

Almost everyone was captivated by the display, after the teen had been nearly paralyzed for a short time. They wanted to see what she would do. After a solid twenty or so seconds, making everything more tense, Luna sluggishly turned her head towards Sam. The teen brought herself closer, an ear resting closely to the rocker's lips. A few of the siblings noticed Luna was shaking as words began to escape her lips. Her girlfriend listened intently, ensuring she did not miss the few words spoken. Nobody else heard what was said.

Ending the silence which had enveloped Vanzilla's inhabitants, Sam stood from her seat. Lynn Sr barely acknowledged when she tapped his shoulder, speaking clearly after, "Mr. L, stop the van." He ignored her, or perhaps didn't even realize she was speaking to him, "Luna needs you to stop the van, dude. Now."

He still didn't speak. Luan, noticing her sister/roommate was looking worse by the second, tried her luck, "Dad, I think you we should stop for a minute."

By now, the third oldest Loud sister had begun to flimsily remove her seatbelt. Lori took notice, "Luna? What's wrong?" She didn't respond, instead rising from her seat in a sluggish manner.

"Mr. Loud, you gotta snap out of it." Bobby told him, squeezing in next to Sam between the front seats, "Seriously." Aside from them and Luan, many of the Loud siblings were hurriedly trying to get the patriarch's attention. It was too little avail. He was beginning to break away from the thousand yard stare ahead. It wasn't happening fast enough, though.

By this point Luna had bumped into the van's right sliding door. Her hand was grasping the handle, ready to open it at any moment. Lori, unsure if Luna would wait for the van to stop, wasn't taking any chances at this point. Bobby and Sam were both knocked aside as she barged between the two. Lynn Sr returned to reality as his oldest daughter slammed her fist on the dashboard, yelling beside him, "**Pull over! Now!"**

She wasn't proud about having to do that. Shouting at her father, in front of all her siblings. After what they'd just been through, what _he _must have gone through. But they couldn't afford to have their dad so distant that he failed to realize his kids were on the cliff's edge. He needed to snap out of it. For them.

Taking in all that was happening around him, Lynn Sr shook his head, "Okay… okay… we're stopping…" He eased Vanzilla down to cruising speed. They'd left that forest behind some time ago, returning to the farmlands they'd driven past prior. Whatever crops the surrounding fields had produced was harvested already, meaning that little blocked their view for miles around.

Immediately finding a dirt road to their left, Lynn Sr made the turn to give them a safe spot to park. Satisfied that they'd be alright here, for now, he brought Vanzilla to a halt on one side of the wide path. No longer moving, the side door was thrust open right away. Luna darted from the vehicle, stopping beside a wooden fence about three yards away. They didn't see much, but the sound of retching left little to the imagination.

Sam hopped out of Vanzilla soon after, sprinting over to Luna as she hurled. Luan, Lori, and Lucy stepped out as well, keeping an eye on them while giving the girl space.

After a short time passed, Luna leaned away from her hunched position. Taking a few steps away from her mess, she turned to face Sam, who was standing a few feet behind her, "I…" She avoided all eye contact.

Giving Luna a once over, Sam took notice of how badly her shirt had been ruined by that guy in the woods. It had been nearly torn to shreds, the bottom right half barely existing anymore. A rip reached most of the way up the front, stopping around the bottom of her chest, as if it were a cheap alternative to a button up blouse. Outside of her clothes, there were bruises over her exposed legs and midriff. A few scrapes were visible above her boots, one even leaving a few dried blood droplets which had rolled down, but nothing severe. It was clear she hadn't been badly hurt, and this just confirmed it further. But that wasn't what had her friends and siblings concerned.

Sam, stepping forward, carefully took off her teal leather jacket. Once she was standing right by Luna, the article of clothing became softly draped over her shoulders. Despite a small, passing smile, she still avoided the girl's gaze, "Luna…?"

Everything the girl had been holding back was released. Luna began rasping, failing to keep her breath steady. She pulled her crush closer, the other girl taken off guard by the sudden act. Tears fell as she clung to her, head burrowing just under her chest. And then she spoke.

"He… he… what was wrong with him?! H-his back was- his… and he did-didn't have a mouth! He didn't have…! And-! We left our mom back there, didn't we?! We..."

She wanted to say something. To tell her that everything would be okay. That they were safe now. That her mom was alright. But Luna wouldn't hear any of that. What she'd seen, the guy who had pinned her down, wasn't something any normal person could just recover from. Not from a few comforting words. So instead, she returned the hysterical teen's embrace. They slumped closer towards the dirt, on their knees, as Sam gave her a chance to let out all this anguish.

All of Luna's siblings watched the display. Some were uneased, not prepared to see her break down like this. Others were sympathetic, knowing the ordeal she'd been through wasn't to be taken lightly. All of them, along with Bobby and their father, only hoped that she would be better with time. Truth be told, the same could be said for most of the family after what they'd gone through.

Lisa, quickly composing herself, knew she had to address something now while she had the opportunity, "Father, I think it might be best for us to locate a hospital before long. Lynn has sustained a significant laceration by foolishly charging into a man covered in glass shards." She shook a little, thinking back on how a human specimen could even function with such injuries, "I have treated the affliction to the best of my abilities, so it may not be truly required, but I know others would be comforted by the assistance of professional physicians."

"That's a good idea, Lisa." Lynn Sr, after returning from his thoughts, agreed. He reached over to the glove box, rifling through the papers inside, "I'm sure we've got a map of the state somewhere in here. Hopefully we're not too far from a town or-"

He, and everyone who wasn't far from the van, turned towards Lincoln as he spoke, "Dad? Why did we leave mom behind?"

Lynn Sr stopped moving. He'd been so preoccupied, so devastated that his wife was dead. That the mother of his children was gone. And they didn't know yet. Only Bobby had been there when she was attacked. Only they knew, as fact, what happened. None of his kids were aware that she'd been killed.

Bobby nearly cracked on the spot when most of the siblings turned towards him for an answer. They were aware that something must have gone down, given how their dad was acting. And they didn't want to wait any longer for him to fork over the truth. He sighed, shaking, before mustering his will to tell them, "Linc… girls, your mom… she-"

"We got separated." Lynn Sr lied, cutting the boy off, "A bunch of those people were all over the road, around that pile of cars. I didn't see them until Bobby and I were surrounded. Your mother was on the other side, and we couldn't make it to her. She had no choice but to run the other way."

Some of the kids gasped, believing the story. Others felt as if that wasn't entirely the truth, or felt as if something was off. Bobby just stared at the older man in disbelief. How did he expect this to turn out well? Lying to all of them about what had happened to their mother. When would he plan to tell them the truth? **Would **he tell them the truth at some point?

Outside, Luan and Lucy had approached Luna to offer whatever comfort they could. Lori had turned away from her sister's ordeal, facing her father from outside the open door, "So you just left without her? Why didn't we go back for her?!"

Lynn Sr retreated from the glove box, turning to face his rightfully outraged daughter, "Neither of us had a choice. You have no idea how many of those people were attacking us." He placed his hand behind the passenger seat, moving himself to better face her, "Your mother was forced to run away. After that Bobby saw you kids getting attacked! If-"

"Your bleeding!" Lola exclaimed, pointing towards their father's arm. The others were quick to see it as well. The end of his sleeve was torn, and there was dark blood visible over his wrist.

Lisa, grabbing some of the supplies she'd been using on Lynn Jr, now approached her father's injured arm before he could retract it. She seemed unfazed upon examining the area near the wound, "It doesn't seem too severe. Looks like the bleeding stopped shortly after it started, otherwise there would…" She paused, which caught more than a few people's attention, as she rolled up his sleeve further, "be… this is a bite mark."

"Bite?" Lincoln asked, perplexed, "Was there an animal there, too?"

Lynn Sr shook his head, "No, it was some guy. He caught me off guard; tried to chew on my arm. Almost-" He jerked as Lisa poured disinfectant over his wound, nearly causing her to drop the bottle.

Leni was (un)surprisingly confused, "Well that doesn't make sense. People aren't tasty enough to eat." She glanced to her arm, staring unsurely towards it. Surely it couldn't taste that good. Right? Opening her mouth enough, the girl's curiosity dictated her into raising the arm closer.

"Leni, don't you dare!" Lori ordered, having glanced just before she could bite down. While not entirely surprised by Leni's actions, they weren't really in a position to deal with another injury.

Lana, looking downcast, spoke as Leni's arm calmly lowered, "I hope mom didn't get hurt. We should go back for her soon."

"I wouldn't expect her to still be anywhere near that area." Lisa stated, wrapping her father's arm with the appropriate amount of gauze, "Considering the hostile nature of the individuals we encountered, it was wise of her to retreat elsewhere. Even if she desired otherwise. By the time we could return, it would be pointless to do so."

Lola, along with others, wanted to object. Bobby spoke first, however, "Look, we shouldn't go back there anyway. You all saw how dangerous it was." He debated heavily whether to tell them the truth. It wasn't right to lie to them, nor was it going to go over well when they eventually learned the truth. For now, at least, he'd hold off on it. For now anyway, "Imagine if we'd gotten back to you ten seconds later." Some of them were freaked out once more at the thought. The sight of those deformed men still fresh in their minds.

After subconsciously messing with his bandages, responding to an itchy sensation sparking from his wound, Lynn Sr resumed searching for a few maps; speaking as he did so, "Lisa and Bobby have a point. She wouldn't be there, and it wouldn't be safe."

"But we can't keep going without her!" Lincoln said, his voice a little higher than he meant for it to be. He began cradling Lily as she stirred, and thankfully remained calm.

Lori looked again to her father, "Linc's right, we need to do something. I don't like leaving mom out there with those psychos wandering around." Lola and Lana both hummed in agreement.

"We should go back." Lynn declared, standing up despite a few protests from her siblings, "Even if she's not there, we could search nearby."

Lynn Sr pulled out a few folded maps, "Absolutely not. I am not putting any of you kids in danger." He looked towards Bobby, motioning for him to sit in the passenger's seat, "Help me look over these. I'm pretty sure we have one that'll give us an idea on where we need to go."

"I'll go by myself if I have to-"

"What you are going to do is sit back down and rest!" He ordered, pointing at her seat for emphasis. Bobby took his seat up front, grabbing a map while the older man continued, "We're going to a hospital so you and I can get checked out. While we're there, I'll find some way to contact the authorities. We'll…" A slight pause, "We can talk more about your mother then."

"Dad," Lori began, as Lynn sat down in a huff, "I've been trying to call 911, nobody is picking up."

"Lisa said it might have something to do with those people we came across!" Lana exclaimed, recalling the previous discussion, "That maybe there's more of them out there or something!" The young genius nodded in confirmation.

Lynn Sr shook his head before speaking in a tone of comfort mixed with authority, "We don't know that. What happened back there was so… crazy that it can't be widespread." He didn't believe that much himself, but it was either tell another lie or risk panic amongst his kids. The choice is fairly obvious to him, "There could just be a problem with their phones, or maybe there's something wrong with the network."

Lori tried to interject on how she'd already proven the latter possibility about the network wasn't the case. Instead she was distracted when Luna, with Sam and Luan on either side of her, silently walked past to get inside the van. The teen didn't look any better than she had a minute prior, and that only accounted for what her older sister could visibly see. All three had small traces of dried dirt on the lower halves of their bodies, and Sam's shirt was noticeably damp from where Luna had let her tears flow onto it. Luan looked to have been crying a bit herself while she'd been comforting her older sister, with drying trails visible down her face.

"I don't think she's feeling better." Lucy told the oldest sibling, who nearly jumped in fright from having no indication that the goth was now standing right beside her, "But it's good that she's had a chance to let her emotions out now, rather than later."

Composing herself, Lori gave a half-hearted nod. Inside Vanzilla Lana and Lola had moved closer to Luna, who'd taken back her seat. Luan and Sam, along with the twins, were doing everything they could to take her mind (and theirs) off of everything they'd recently endured. Lincoln and Leni had returned to caring for Lilly, who remained asleep. Meanwhile Lisa stood next to Lynn, checking her medical work on the athlete once more. Their father and Bobby were going over a particular map only to discover it to be of little help. With any luck they'd find a decent map amongst the mess of papers.

"Hopefully we can find mom, soon, and just go back home." Lori spoke softly, "I want to just put this entire trip behind us as soon as possible." With that, she climbed back into the van to take her seat. Lucy, on the other hand, stood in place for a moment. Nobody saw it, but the young girl seemed to be holding back a wave of raw emotion herself. As if ready to break down on the spo. She knew, somehow, that Lori's wish wouldn't be fulfilled. Somehow, Lucy knew that things were likely going to get worse.

* * *

It had taken a good span of time to get back on the road. Their stop had caused issues with Vanzilla's transmission, among other troubles under the hood, which at this point surprised neither the vehicle's owner nor his kids. Lana was a great mechanic, especially for a six-year-old, but the family's van was nearly five decades old. Older than the man who owned it. Sometimes it took a while to fix. Realistically, they were fortunate the thing _could_ be fixed every time it broke down. Still, it had cost them a good few hours, and now the sun was getting low in the sky.

They'd seen a few vehicles pass by as they were stopped. One guy even slowed down for a moment, offering to help if they needed it. They graciously declined, but it was a small comfort that things were still normal enough for a stranger to offer help on the road. Still, the overall lack of people was odd. Unsettling.

After some time looking over the mess of unorganized papers and whatnot in the glovebox, the men found a full map of Georgia. While it was more than a few years old, it did the job they needed in telling them about where they were, and where they could go from there. It turned out that they were in Linden County, about 36 miles to the southwest of Atlanta. Unfortunately the nearest town big enough to have a worthwhile hospital, which was a solid half an hour away, would take them right back through the winding road in the woods neither of them dared to return to. So instead they had to go in the opposite direction, into the nearby King County, where the second closest town could be found.

While there were small conversations here and there following their initial stop, not much was said overall. Everyone was preoccupied by their thoughts; with their worries. The only person hugely vocal was Lynn, and even that had died out when she finally stopped moving her injury about. Lily had been awake for a while, and aside from asking to be held by Leni she was mostly tranquil.

After a few minutes of driving, the scenery had transitioned from farmland back to another forest. Despite the trees being less densely packed together here than they were around the winding road from before, it was still off putting. Most of them were uneasy from being back in this setting, even though it wasn't the same woods. Some more than others. Luna wouldn't be putting her guard down any time soon. The sky was beginning to dim as the sun was falling further towards the horizon. It was well beyond the tree line, casting shadows over the road which only served to make everyone feel less at ease.

Lynn Sr was focused intently on the road, fighting the urge to fall back into his abyssal state from before. But right now, he had two new problems to contend with on top of everything else. The first was himself: the patriarch didn't want to admit it, but he'd started feeling sick not too long ago. It started with a minor ache in his gut before ascending into a state of nausea. Despite having already emptied his stomach when they initially came across that wreck earlier, he felt that he was on track to throw up once more if this got worse.

It wasn't limited to his lower body, though. A headache had formed and was swiftly working its way to a full blown migraine. His hands were shaking, if only slightly. And perhaps the most troubling, Lynn Sr's vision was starting to become impared to a troubling degree. So much so that it became truly tempting to pull over to give his eyes a rest. After working through what may have caused these sudden illnesses, he came to the frightening idea that it may very well have been from the bite he'd received. It wasn't as if getting bitten by a crazed man in the middle of the road was the most sanitary thing in the world. All the more reason to get himself, Lynn Jr, and the rest of them to a hospital as soon as possible. Which was further hindered by the second issue that had arisen.

Vanzilla was running on fumes.

All the gas he'd put in the tank earlier that day was used up during that portion of their road trip. Most of what was left was gone following both their detour away from that damned winding road, and sadly from the brief periods the van had been idling while Lana was trying to fix their engine troubles. There wasn't enough to make it all the way down this country road, let alone to town. Maybe they had some spare fuel in the back? Possibly, but for some reason he was having trouble recalling what all they'd packed just yesterday. Probably due to stress mixed with his worsening head pains. Either way, the last thing he wanted to do right now was be stopped along the side of the road next to a forest for the night.

It was some kind of miracle, then, that a sign covered in dim lights came into view far ahead on their right. Driving closer, he discovered it to actually be a gas station. Filled with originality, and perhaps a bit of immature humor, the sign in a more clear view read 'Jacob's Gas'. The building looked to be mostly alone along this path, with nothing nearby aside from the two pumps out front. While the woods were still ever present on both sides of the road, both the station and it's gravel lot offered a small clearing of the trees on this side of the road.

Vanzilla came to a slow crawl as they neared this isolated place. This, of course, caught the attention of nearly everyone. Before any of them could speak, however, Lynn Sr stopped the vehicle altogether before turning to face them, "Alright kids, I know everyone's pretty freaked out after today. Pretty soon we'll be safe in town."

"Why are we stopping?" Luna, obviously not wanting to be stopped in the forest once again, cut her father off before he could continue. Her voice was a bit shaky, though not as much as it had been earlier.

"We're almost out of gas. So we're going to need to stop here and get some. Otherwise, we won't make it to town. It won't be long, we'll just fill up the tank and pay, then we can go. Alright?"

With a few grunts of agreeance, and no vocal opposition, the van went into motion again as it turned into the parking lot. Soon they were parked right next to one of the pumps. Once the ignition was turned off, and the keys were in his pocket, Lynn Sr was the first to step outside. Only for him to lose his balance when his legs gave out. While he did catch himself on the open door, the display was enough to give his children a quick scare.

As some of the teens scrambled out through the side door, Lana and a few others jumped up in their seats, "Are you good, dad?!"

Bobby was quick to exit and go around the front of the van, joining Lori, Luan, Leni, Luna, and Sam as they went out to check on their parental figure, "Is he hurt?"

"You look sick, dude." Sam commented. In the luminescence of the gas station's night lights, they were able to notice things about him that had been masked by the creeping darkness prior. His skin, while not concerningly so, was noticeably pale. Any of them paying enough attention could see that his hands were shaking a bit. What went most unnoticed, only really picked up by Lisa, was how her father's pupils seemed to be slightly more dilated than normal.

He dismissed their concerns as Lincoln, Lisa, and (to a few protest) Lynn came out as well, "I'm alright, kids. Just… lost my footing there…"

Lori didn't believe that for a second, and with no resistance placed her hand to his forehead, "You're feeling pretty warm."

Lisa stepped forward, giving her own inspection with a small array of medical tools she seemingly pulled out of nowhere, "It would appear that our dear father has come down with a mild fever. My assumption would be that he contacted something with the injury on his arm."

"The bite?" Luan asked, becoming worried.

"Bodily fluid exchanged in such a fashion isn't hygienic. And I doubt those people were the healthiest specimens in this area to begin with."

Lori, now really worried for him, helped steady her father as he stood up straight, "You literally need to sit down, alright? Just rest. Bobby and I can fill up the tank."

"No, Lori, I'm fine." He protested, now able to find his footing.

"You're not fine, dad." She retorted, looking him square in the eyes, "Please."

With a wave a nausea flowing over him, and a good glance at the worried faces of all the teens and children, he gave a defeated sigh, "Alright. You're right. I'll…" He leaned back, with some light assistance from Lori, Bobby, Luan and Sam, into the open driver's seat, "I'll just stay here for a minute…"

Lori, now having unintentionally (and undesirably) gained authority over the situation, turned to her siblings, "I want all of you to stay here with Vanzilla, alright? No arguing. I'll be on the other side with the gas pump." She turned to her boyfriend, "Would you go in and pay, Boo-Boo Bear? I'm putting $30 in."

Bobby, admirably just a little embarrassed about having his pet name used in front of his girlfriend's father and siblings, felt his face brighten a little as he answered, "Uh, yeah. I can do that."

"I'll go in, too, if that's alright." Sam offered, stepping forward.

Lori didn't seem to mind much, offering short approval before reinforcing 'no arguing' part to some of her siblings. Luna, on the other hand, was rather apprehensive, "I don't want you to go, Sam. Please just stay out here with us?"

"I'll just be inside, Luna. Besides, I seriously need to stretch my legs some more after being packed with the luggage. You know I'm not a guitar case, right?" As she'd hoped, the cringy attempt at a lighthearted joke gave back a smile from the fellow musician. If only briefly, "I'll be back out soon, promise."

With a sigh, Luna gave a hushed approval, "Okay."

"Wait." Before Sam or Bobby could move, Lynn Sr grabbed their attention. Reaching into his back pocket, the experienced man of the middle class pulled out his wallet and grabbed out a few bills, "Here's fifty." He stated, handing the money over, "Go ahead and get everyone some stuff to eat, alright?"

Bobby and Sam nodded, with the latter graciously taking the cash, "Will do. Thanks, Mr L."

While the two made their way towards the station, Lori did as she'd said and went around to the side to start fueling the van. Leni and Lincoln went back inside while Lynn sat, grumbling inaudibly about her shoulder and having to stay put, with her legs dangling outside the open door. Luna, following a half-hearted joke regarding her ripped clothing from Luan, accompanied the younger sibling to the back so they could pull out a more intact shirt for her to put on.

Lisa, meanwhile, continued to look their father over. If she wasn't mistaken he appeared to be getting worse already. Whatever he'd contacted from those people on the road was working fast. She retrieved a few pills from their still unpacked medical bag, but it was clear that they'd only do so much. If they weren't already going to the hospital she'd feel the need to suggest it. Whatever this was, chances were he'd need proper medication.

* * *

Bobby was the first inside, holding open the door for Sam as she followed. As the lack of vehicles outside suggested, no other customers were here right now. One man currently made his way from a closed door in the back into a seat behind the counter. His face was concealed behind a newspaper stand sitting next to the register. They spotted him right away, subconsciously making sure he wasn't going to attack them. Unseen by them, he was doing the same.

After a quick exchange, Sam gave Bobby most of the cash while she searched around for anything that looked good. As he approached the front desk the cashier brought himself more into view. He seemed to be in his mid thirties, with a harsh stubble adorning his roughened face. His voice came out in a noticeable southern accent after he puffed on a stub of a cigarette between his fingers, "Hello there, String Bean." He drawled, poking fun at the boy.

"Hey." Bobby replied, being polite, "We're, uh, my girlfriend's putting some gas into that van outside. She said that-"

He was cut off as the man, paying no attention to his words, pointed his way, "Is that your blood?"

His eyes grew wide as the teen looked down. He'd completely forgotten. There was dried blood staining his clothing from the people he'd killed. A fact that, while resonating for a while, was just now truly setting in. He could see the man starting to grow a bit anxious as he quickly stammered out, "N-no, this isn't mine! There were these people on the road and they-!"

"So that ain't your blood, then?" He clarified, ignoring the rest of what Bobby tried to say, "None of you are hurt?"

Sam, who'd overheard the conversation and swiftly ran towards the front, shook her head upon stopping, "No, we're not. Really. There was this-"

"You don't gotta explain, girl. I know what you came across."

They were both puzzled, glancing quickly to one another before the taller teen asked, "You know about those people on the road? The wreck?"

He readjusted in his chair, putting out his smoke in a nearby ash tray shortly after, "Not out wherever you saw them, specifically. But I know about what's going on. Had one of those people come by here not too long ago. The ones acting out of their minds."

In an instant, Bobby and Sam became truly scared. The latter getting shaky breath before she could talk, "You mean… there's more of them?"

"Sad to say, missy, but there are. More and more from what I hear. Shit... from the sounds of it they're popping up all over."

"All over what, dude?" She demanded, leaning on the counter top, "This county? The state?"

He simply shook his head, in a defeated manner, "Try the whole damn country. And not just here, either."

That hit them hard, yet neither could believe it at first. The country? These crazy people were all over the country? That wasn't true. That couldn't possibly be true. Could it? How? Everything had been normal just yesterday. There hadn't been any signs that something was wrong until just a few hours ago!

Sam backed away from the counter, more than she meant to as she nearly knocked over a stand holding tiny bagged doughnuts behind them. Bobby stared into nothingness for a brief time before shaking his head, "That can't be true… it just… it can't be."

"How…" Sam found herself leaning against the shelf, her legs alone unable to hold her steady, "How do you know this?"

Rather than giving an immediate verbal response, the man stood up and went further out of sight behind the front desk. He returned shortly with a small portable radio that looked to be older than either of them. He unfolded the antenna, the older metal offering slight resistance. Then, with the turning of a few nobs, the antique buzzed to life.

Following a brief period of crackled silence, they soon heard the static ridden voice of a man on the other side. He was in the middle of a report about panic going on in a few major cities, also noting a rise of crime in New York City seemingly overnight. The radio host went on to list several cities that were experiencing a sudden flux of violence, including Chicago, Houston, San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles, more and more he named off major cities.

While Bobby and Sam stood there, too disturbed to find words, the cashier spoke over the device, "Earlier they were talking about _supposed_ reports of similar shit going down in other countries. Not just Mexico or Canada, mind you. They were naming off places in Europe, Asia, Africa, you name it. Worldwide." This made their stomachs drop even deeper, Sam feeling as if she'd be sick, "Whatever's going on it started a day or two ago, but really got kicking this afternoon. Hell, I didn't even know something was wrong until some asshole threw Jacob to the ground and started tearing into him."

Sam found the will to speak, "Your friend got attacked?"

"Not a friend, really. My asshole boss. Still, he didn't deserve it. We were out back stocking the ice machine when this fucker came out of nowhere and just…" He shook his head, recalling the recent event, "Poor bastard. I would've left by now if I didn't have to wait for a buddy of mine to pick me up after my shift. Like Hell I'm gonna walk home with this going on."

The radio host soon switched from the topic of major cities to talking about the attackers, themselves. He spoke of reports involving people attacking one another without warning, and what to look for in the attackers. What really caught their attention, though, was when he mentioned a notice sent out by the C.D.C. warning people to avoid contact with any hostile individuals.

"C.D.C.?" Bobby asked, a bad feeling crawling up his spine.

"Center for Disease Control, if you didn't know. Apparently this mess is a new virus or what have ya. Some kind of epidemic. It's why I was worried when I saw that." He explained, pointing again towards the dried blood on Bobby's clothes, "Didn't know if you had it or not." While the man spoke, the radio made mention about reporting any bites or scratches received from contact with the hostile individuals. When he turned away, Sam and Bobby both exchanged worried glances. They had an immediate problem on their hands if all of this was true.

Leaving the radio on, the employee began making his way out from behind the register, "You can keep your money, kiddos. Shit won't do me any good anyway." He made his way towards the door in the back, which looked to lead into an office of sorts based on curtained window facing out into the store, "Take whatever you want, fill up with as much gasoline as you need, and then I suggest you all get the fuck out of here and find some place safe. I know that's what I plan to do…" He disappeared behind the door, leaving Sam and Bobby filled with terror they'd never before experienced.

* * *

"You know, Luna, it's a good thing we packed extra shirts." Luan stated, the ruined clothing in her hands, "I didn't wanna say it, but I think this one might be too revealing."

Luna, having finished slipping on her clean replacement wear, gazed down as her sister emphasized the now open midriff her old shirt had been given, "Not funny."

She smiled, "Oh, you didn't like that joke? I'm _torn!_" She didn't laugh at her own pun, instead waiting for the musician's response.

"I'm serious, Luan!" She declared, throwing Sam's jacket back on for the time being, "Alright? I don't want you joking about it anymore. It's not funny! " There was immediate regret following her outburst, seeing how downcast the younger girl became. A hand ran through her hair as she silently berated herself, "I'm sorry, dude. I know you were just trying to… that was really freaky back there, y'know? That guy was just so messed up and…" she tried to put her thoughts to words, failing with each attempt, "I'm still messed up over it, and… I was just so scared."

A humorless chuckle fell past the comedian's lips, "And you think we weren't scared?" She asked, tossing the fabric scrap among the exposed luggage, "That's funny."

Lori watched nearby, while she finished up with the pump, as Luan chose to walk away following the exchange. She stopped somewhere near Lynn, perhaps checking on the wounded athlete. Taking on the role of the eldest sister, she approached as Luna kicked the rear bumper in distress, "Luan's right, y'know. That was literally terrifying for all of us."

She sighed, feeling miserable, "I know, sis. When those dudes tried to get to us in Vanzilla that must've totally-"

"I wasn't talking about that, Luna." She interrupted, getting emotional as she continued to speak, "I mean, yeah that was scary but… when I watched you get pulled off the road like that it was **the** most panicked I've probably ever been in my entire life. And it wasn't just me, either. I mean you saw how most of us went after you, right? Even Linc and Lana and…" Her voice began to break, though she tried to not let it, "And then Lynn got herself hurt charging into a guy with glass literally sticking out of him! I couldn't…"

Luna was beginning to feel guilty for how she'd reacted before to her ordeal, regardless of how justified it may have been, "Lori-"

A finger was held up, silencing her before she could start. By now Lori had a tear rolling down her cheek. She was doing her best to maintain a strong act around her siblings, but it was hard. Really hard, "I know I can be a real… bitch sometimes, okay? And sometimes it doesn't seem like I really care about someone. But if anything seriously bad ever happened to you, or Lynn… Linc, Lana, Lola, Lucy, Lisa, Lily, Luan, Leni… I don't know what I'd do."

She had no words to respond. Her older sister had just let out her anguish over what had happened, and whether she'd meant it or not Luna now fully understood the situation her siblings had been put through. She could imagine the sheer terror of what that was like if she'd been in their shoes, watching Lori, Luan or anyone in her family being attacked by some crazed guy in the woods. It didn't take away from what the rocker had been through, but she now grasped that she wasn't the only one truly affected by what went down.

Without a word, Luna embraced Lori in a hug as the latter tried hard to reign in her emotions. They stood there like that for a short time, not wanting to let the other go. Both knowing full well the other had every right to be messed up right now. Luan, along with some of their other siblings, watched the exchange go down in silence. None too sure on how to act right away.

Up front, Lynn Sr drew some of their attention as he interrupted a small coughing fit to call out, "Lynn, get back in the Van."

"I'm just going inside for a minute." All of the siblings now saw that she'd abandoned her seat at Vanzilla's open side, and was now halfway between it and the gas station's glass doors, "Gotta use the restroom."

"You can hold it until we get to the hospital." Her father stated, rather than asked, "Now get back inside the van."

Lincoln, who had been preoccupied playing with an active Lily, stopped to grab the injured athlete's attention, "I think you should stay here, Lynn. Dad's right, you can wait until we get to town right?" A few of their sisters were also expressing their desires for her to not go away from them, worried about her shoulder.

"I'll be fine, guys, okay?" She confirmed, allowing her brash nature flow a bit, "I know how to act with an injury."

Before Lynn Sr could retort, Sam and Bobby came hurriedly out from the gas station. They both held a few plastic bags in each hand, all filled to the brim with an assortment of food and some miscellaneous items, "That looks like more than twenty dollars…" the older man trailed off, feeling his wallet cry in distress.

The pair were greeted by Lynn on their way to the van, the girl tagging along back with interest as she nabbed a frozen burrito from them. Cooked or not, it looked really good right about now. Luan, who stood outside the van's door, stepped aside to allow the older teens access inside. Lori and Luna went around to greet them upon their return, both surprised by the amount they brought back as the younger spoke, "That a lot of snacks, Sam. I hope you didn't spend too much."

"Oh don't worry, Luna," Sam began, glancing her way as she hurriedly unloaded the haul in an empty seat, "it was actually free."

That wasn't what any of the Louds present were expecting to hear, and some had to do a double take. Leni took a triple take, "Free? Are they having a clearance sale or something?" She quickly added, with a faint gasp, "Do they have cute clothes in there?"

"It's a Gas Station, Leni. They don't sell clothes." Lori explained, getting next to Bobby, "Why is this stuff free? Is there something wrong with it?"

"No, not at all." He replied, walking back a bit, "Sam and I are gonna get more. If anyone wants to help that'd be great."

Lynn Sr stood up, despite Lisa's mild protest from beside his seat, "Now, hold on for just a second." He found it easier to stand this time around, despite a momentary give in his knees. Steps were taken forward as he continued, "This isn't something we can just do, kids. How are you able to take this much stuff? You're not stealing, are you?"

Sam quickly dismissed the claim, pointing towards a window that must lead to the back office based on the interior they saw, "No, that guy said we can take as much as we want. He said-" She cut herself off. Lynn Sr had been suppressing his coughs to address them, but now he was nearly doubled over in a bad fit. This brought her and Bobby back to a very serious problem.

"Dad, do you need some water?" Lynn asked, despite her mouthful.

He kept going for a few seconds before catching himself, holding out a hand to dismiss the worries of his kids, "I'm fine. I promise, I'm…" He trailed off as another fit surfaced.

"Are you sure, Mr Loud?" Bobby asked, silently glad he had a small distance from the older man, "You don't sound good."

"Trust me, kids, I'm perfectly okay. I swear. It's just a bad cold." He didn't entirely believe this himself, but best to not cause worry with his children if he could help it.

Bobby glanced at the man's wrist, which did not go unnoticed by some, "How's your wound? Is it feeling any worse?"

"I believe it'd be beneficial to depart right away." Lisa declared, standing next to Lucy's seat as the two watched from everything from inside the vehicle. She, at a more rapid rate than her older siblings, was catching on that something was wrong, "The sooner our father and Lynn get to a hospital, the better."

Lori agreed, "She's right. Dad, why don't-"

"We're not leaving…" Lynn managed to choke out between coughs, before successfully fighting them back, "until we get this mess sorted out. I don't want to have an issue with the authorities in town."

"We're not stealing, Mr L.!" Sam swore, holding her hands up, "We swear!"

Still berated by his still progressing migraine, he looked to them with irritated disbelief, "Then why is it free?" He watched as the two teens glanced towards one another, immediately realizing that there was something they needed to say but couldn't quite get out. For one reason or another, "Well?"

* * *

In the back office, the employee sighed as he had to step around the crimson puddle on the floor. Its trail followed across the floor to a low desk, where the limp body of a recently deceased man lay on top. The body was of a male, in his early fifties or older. His previously tattered teal shirt was now darkened by the large quantity of blood that had recently drained out. His wounds consisted of a flesh chunk missing in his side, which had since been stitched together with makeshift string.

That hadn't been his cause of death, however. It may have finished him off in time without proper medical care. Well, under normal circumstances anyway. Regardless, his death came from the point blank gunshot wound in his chest. A result of the now former employee doing what he believed was right. He'd heard on the radio ever since they were attacked. He knew what would happen. So he stopped it.

He glanced at the weapon he'd used: an older, retired shotgun from Jacob's hunting days. Ironically now the tool that ended his life not even twenty minutes ago. Tragic, really, "Poor Bastard." He muttered, turning back to the corpse. There was a blood stained rag lying limply over his face, draped over in a makeshift sign of respect. It hadn't been easy, even with his resentment for the old man. But it had to be done. He'd been infected. He was a threat.

Outside he could hear those people talking. The ones with that van. He'd heard them when the vehicle first pulled as well. For a while he sat back here, reeling from what he'd done. Coming to terms with it. When suddenly he's brought back to reality as actual customers decide to stop by. He's just lucky the smell hadn't reached the front, or that none of them went out back. Really, though, he was relieved none of them were infected. He couldn't risk it. Hell, once these people were gone he was going to get as far away from his bosses' lifeless body as possible until his ride came.

Curious, and a little antsy for them to just go already, he went up to the curtains and made a gap to peep through. He could see the two who'd come into the store speaking with the rest, trying to explain something. He couldn't hear them too much over a noisy fan nearby, but he gathered enough to figure they were talking in regards to the food they'd taken out. In hindsight, people taking stuff for no charge to other people who weren't fully aware of what's going on must seem pretty suspicious. Perhaps he'd go out and explain to them, as well. No use in…

A quick glance around caught his eye to something. One of the girls out there. The one with eating on a cold burrito; something was on her shirt. Her shoulder. There was some dried-

"Holy shit."

* * *

"Sam, what's going on?" Luna asked, worried.

"You guys look like you've seen a ghost." Luan commented, having watched them since they came close, "That's not some joke, by the way. You really look that way."

"Was there a ghost?" Leni asked, getting freaked out. Lana and Lola similarly grew scared.

Bobby shook his head, "What? No, no, there's…" He still tried to think of a way to explain it, in a much more gentle way than it'd been told to him, "Look, there's something going on. Alright?"

"What?" Lynn Sr asked, shifting from his worry of shoplifting to a bigger concern, "Did something bad happen in there?"

"Did it have to do with those people on the road?" Lori asked, with a bad feeling there was some connection. Upon hearing this, Lucy began hugging her knees to her chest.

"It..." Bobby sighed, realizing there was no really good way to lay it out, "Alright, listen. Apparently there's-"

He didn't finish. From behind, back at the building's main entrance, the door was kicked open in a flurry. The cashier came bustling out, a look of fearful intent on his face. In his hands were gripped a hunting shotgun, which he'd already wielded once that day. With one motion, he raised the gun into the air and fired off some buckshot, creating a thunderous crack. By the time everyone was facing him, the weapon was pointed in their direction, "You motherfuckers!"

Several of them screamed in response, Lily becoming frightened by the noise. Lincoln was quick to shelter the baby from sight as the man glanced between all of them. Lori similarly tried to shelter Luna and Luan who were still outside. Lynn nearly choked on her burrito. Once her throat was cleared, she could tell the man was now focusing on her more than anyone else.

Lucy and Lisa backed away further into the van in fear, Lola and Lana doing the same. Leni wasn't sure what to do, so she followed the lead of her brother and older sister by attempting to shelter the 6 year old twins. Sam and Bobby backed away from the man, fearing for their lives, while Lynn Sr stayed put in a cautious manner, "Woah! Sir, what is this about?! Look, please, we can talk about-!"

"Ain't shit to talk about!" He declared, aiming the gun in his direction briefly, "I'm protecting myself, mister! Understand?!"

Their father threw up his hands in a defensive manner, "Jeez, alright! Listen, I'm sorry we took from you without paying. We'll put it all back. I swear!"

"This ain't about the food! It's about **her**!" He motioned towards Lynn for emphasis, her eyes going wide as the gun was pointed at her. Luna and Luan darted from behind Lori to try and shelter their younger sister.

Lori followed them, now standing as a protector in front of the trio, "What has she done?! There's literally no reason for this!"

He tried to motion for the teens to move out of the way, "It's because she's infected, that's what!"

"Infected?!" Luna demanded, arms wrapped around Lynn on one side, "What are you talking about, dude?!"

"Her shoulder! The goddamn wound on her shoulder! She's got it!" He glanced at Bobby, who had been slowly moving towards Lori to hopefully shield her, "Tell 'em, String Bean!"

"Bobby?!" Lori, confused, looked to her boyfriend.

He was flustered, "L-l-look, when we went inside, this man told us that some outbreak is going on across the country! A disease, or something! He's been hearing it over the radio!" Lisa, too scared to speak, was for once perturbed about being correct on something.

"You mean those people on the road were sick?" Luan choked out, holding onto Lynn in a defensive manner similar to Luna, "And there's more of them?!"

"That's right, girl. And your friend there is going to turn into one of them! So get out of the way and I'll take care of it for you!"

Lori, Luna, Luan, and now Bobby only stood more firmly between her and the gunman, now. Sam, despite her fear, made a cautious move to join them, as well. Lincoln, from within the van, did what he could to try and help his family, "Lynn's not sick! She cut herself on glass!"

"You expect me to buy that, kid? I ain't stupid!"

Lynn Sr tried to take control of the situation again, despite another oncoming bout of coughs, "Listen, I don't…" the fit began, "know about any... outbreaks, but my... daughter's not sick! So... please, just...!" This was the worst one yet, and he felt close to spitting something out.

The man turned his gaze from the girl to the, now evidently, sick man. Scanning him as the father doubled over, "What the hell's that?" He demanded, making heads turn towards the source of the coughs, "On your arm! What the fuck is that on your arm?!"

"It's not-" Lynn Sr, despite his best efforts, now couldn't hold back. He threw up right there on the pavement. Not a lot, as there wasn't much left on his stomach, but enough to make the situation worse.

"You fucks!" As he slowly stepped back in fear the gun went from Lynn, to her father, to Bobby, "Are you lying, boy?! Is that **your** blood?! Do you have it?!" He didn't give the teen a chance to respond, as he now held his firearm to no single target, "What about you, missy?! The ones in the van! Any more of you sick?! HUH!? ARE ALL OF YOU INFECTED!?" The kids all became panicked with the man's increasingly erratic words and movements. His eyes were now wide as he came to his own conclusions.

Lynn Sr, standing up once more as things escalated, tried once more to protect his children from this man, "Listen, please-!"

"Ain't nothing more to listen to, fucker! None of you are giving it to me, ya here! I've heard what happens! I know what you become! And I'll do whatever it takes to keep myself from becoming one of 'em! I KILLED MY BOSS! **YOU THINK I WON'T PUT ANY OF YOU DOWN!?**" He didn't afford them the chance to answer, "So ya'll get the fuck out of here, now! Or else I swear to God I'll-!"

This time he was the one cut off by the front doors busting open. Out came a corpse, or rather what used to be one, with its arms outstretched and intent in its glazed eyes. The cashier, too close to the door to be able to turn more than his head, wasn't ready to see his boss up and walking. He wasn't ready to be grabbed from behind by the man he'd killed in self preservation. And most of all, he wasn't ready for that very shell of a person to sink its teeth into his neck. He wasn't able to run or defend himself. Nor could he use the gun to stop his attacker. All he could do was scream in agony as his flesh was torn.

All the children who saw it, and a few of the teens, screamed in terror at the sight of the ghastly pale man. From his blood soaked clothing to his actions. They watched, mouths agape, as the man gave a brief futile struggle to break free. In his squirming he'd pulled the trigger. A reflex as his entire body went into shock. Most of them ducked; unsure of where the firearm was aimed when it went off. By the time any of them looked back, the man had been brought to the ground. A walking corpse hunched over, feasting on the quickly dying meal.

Not a single one of them paid the sight any due attention. Instead, they saw something which would forever change their lives. Lynn Sr, loving father of eleven, now had a gaping wound right beneath his chest. He'd been knocked to the ground with force from the shotgun's blast, his head laying a yard away from the front of his vehicle. Most of his children had a clear view of the wound thanks to this.

"**DAD!**" A few of them screamed. Lori, Luna, Luan, Lynn, Bobby and Sam ran towards him in dread. He turned to them as they approached, his face filled with shock. His teenage daughters knelt down at either side of him, tears forming in their eyes, as Bobby and Sam stood close by their affectionate others.

He tried to say something to them, the words getting backed up in his empty throat, "Kids, I…" He tried, as hard as he could, but his entire body was rejecting everything he wanted to do right now. No amount of will could force him to stand, and anything else from speaking to moving his arms seemed like an impossible task. So he laid there, staring into their eyes. Hoping to convey his words that way.

Lori turned back to Vanzilla as she heard Leni crying. She sat in the van still, peering out the doorway. Behind her she saw Lana and Lola trying to do the same. They knew what had happened, evidenced by the tears on their face, and now they tried to see the aftermath. She couldn't allow that, "Leni, get them back! Don't let them come out!" Leni stared back at her, registering her words, "Leni, please!"

She complied, despite not fully understanding the reasoning. Leni ushered the twins into the back, where Lincoln and Lily were still hidden out of sight. The boy hadn't looked on, himself, gathering what was going on with what he'd heard. Instead he chose to keep his baby sister away from the window. Up near the front, Lucy and Lisa didn't have the same luxury as their youngest sister and the twins. They had a clear view of what was going on. As they sat there in shock, tears soon flowing, they watched their father's final moments.

"Oh, dad, I don't…" Luna choked out, now holding his left hand along with Luan, "What do we do? Please…"

Bobby had kneeled down beside Lori, hoping to maybe apply pressure against the wound. It became quickly apparent that wouldn't do any good, "Wha-what do you need me to do, Mr Loud? Tell me what to do!" He was awarded no response outside of a small glance, followed by a weak cough bringing a trickle of red to his mouth, "I can help you! Just… jeez, I-I don't know how!"

Luan and Lynn had grasped the reality of what they were witnessing. They both couldn't find words to say as they were reduced to merely sobbing. Luna soon realized the truth, as well, and joined with them. Sam held onto her shoulders in a vain attempt at comfort, tears flowing down her own cheeks at the sight she was now witnessing. Bobby tried once more, in vain, to hold back the flow of blood coming from his wound. This only succeeded in getting his hands covered in a thin coat of darkened red.

Lori couldn't fathom what was happening. Her entire world, everything up to this point that she'd ever known, had come spiralling down in just under a minute. She didn't know what to say. What to do. She was lost, "Dad? Please, dad… daddy…"

Thinking as clearly as he could, their father silently reached into his pocket. His hand came back out curled up into a loose ball. With the last of his fading strength, he raised that hand up towards his oldest child. They all watched, none daring to speak, as Lori shakily held out her hands at his gesture. She silently gasped as he relinquished the contents of that pocket into her waiting palms. It was the keys. He was giving her the key to Vanzilla.

Blood slowly coming to his mouth, a result of his ruined insides, he gazed into Lori's eyes while mustering himself enough to speak. She stared back in silence, waiting for him. There were a thousand things he wanted to say. To all of them. How he was sorry. How he wished he could be there. Mountains of wise words, advice and kind words he, sadly, would never be able to pass on. He had to settle on something, and he chose the only thing that made sense.

"...keep them safe… please…"

She had little time to process his dying words. Bobby turned her attention, and that of those present, back to the gas station's inhabitants. The employee's cold, mutilated body was no longer the main interest of his assailant. Now, the pale man was staring at them as he rose off the ground. With an inhuman growl, he began lurching towards them. While he was sluggish in his movements, compounded with tripping over the dead body, there wasn't distance between him and the teens.

"We have to go!" Bobby declared, being the most in his wits out of anyone present right now, "C'mon!"

Despite how much they desired not to, the Loud Sisters were forced to abandon their father. It took a bit of prodding to get them off of the ground. Sam helped Luna and Luan to their feet, guiding the sisters away. Lynn rose by herself, looking back as she ran. Lori was the last to leave, looking into the face of her father one last time. He gazed back in pained sadness. To the best of his abilities, he conveyed a silent plea for her to go. With help from Bobby, he watched as that desire went answered.

Pursued by the new attacker, who ignored the dying man close by, they raced to Vanzilla and hastily piled in. Sam, the last one into the open side door, closed it behind them. Bobby went around to the passenger seat as Lori hopped into the front, sliding the key into the ignition as the family vehicle roared to life. As Bobby slammed his door shut their pursuer reached his target. The driver side door was shut right as the cold body slammed into it. He banged viciously against the glass in hopes of breaking through.

Lori gave him no such chance, as she drove forward to gain some distance. Using the parking lot to her advantage, she drove in a circle to keep him far away. Once she came close to the main road, everyone else suddenly felt themselves get pushed into the walls or one another following a sharp turn across a small stretch of grass. Once they were on the road she drove forward, not caring which direction she now faced. All that mattered was getting away from that place. And so she did. Not once looking back.

Lynn Sr watched from the ground as his children drove off. The pale man gave chase, but at his speed he'd never catch up. Not before they'd lose him. With his final moments, the patriarch thought back to a sea of memories he'd made with his family. It was now, with these thoughts on mind, that he finally allowed tears to fall. His final sight was spent watching his family driving far away. With his final breath, he prayed to whoever might be listening that they all remain safe. His final thoughts were riddled with guilt, knowing he'd left the burden of protecting his children to his own daughter. He couldn't only hope, with his final breath, that Rita would be able to forgive him once they found each other. Wherever they were going.


End file.
